Way back in 2006 'Internet broadcasters' were often people interested in producing user-generated content for sites like YouTube. By 2007 major TV broadcasters were among those eager to bring their premium content to the Internet.

The shift was swift and dramatic. Delivering TV content over the Internet now seems to be a hands-down favourite among those who predict what will be the “next big thing.”

In the UK for example, the BBC iPlayer is generating a huge amount of interest and headlines. Even though the anticipated long term level of usage of the iPlayer is still unclear, it shows that what is underway is a real social change in how people want to view content.

Of course Apple created its own Internet content universe for the iPod generation: iTunes.

Content in the non-Apple world

But what about the non-Apple world? NDS may have the answer. NDS is developing a future-looking system to deliver content to multiple devices including connected TVs and portable media devices. This project is called Infinite TV™.

“Infinite TV is about more than content,” says Nick Thexton, NDS Senior Vice President R&D, New Initiatives. “It provides an infrastructure that brings together CE manufacturers, operators and content owners. Infinite TV is designed to enable them to deliver content directly to consumers. It’s a different business model,” he says.

“Operators are now trying to deliver content in a different way that competes with free-to-air,” Thexton says.

For the sake of comparison Thexton explains that iTunes has been a successful model for getting people to pay for content. 

“iTunes has set the bar fairly high,” he continues. “Any alternative is going to have to be based on a strong user experience.”

There’s yet another difference: software. “We are trying to create a powerful user experience with an application-based software client,” Thexton says. Why? “So that it can interface with as many devices as possible while avoiding a vertical market situation.”

Changes in viewing habits

Viewing habits have changed because PCs have led people to want convenient content delivery.

People today are sampling content. It’s almost like listening to the radio. They change stations frequently. As such there is a need to transfer content as smoothly as possible. 

Thexton expects transferring content from a DVR to a mobile handset or other device – also called side-loading – to be popular. “Infinite TV circumvents the need for side-loading by delivering content over the Internet that is tailored to a subscriber’s devices.”

Nevertheless there are some serious obstacles for those who want to deliver content from PCs to other devices. “When it comes to being able to deliver convergence to three or more devices and getting it on the TV, no one else but NDS has succeeded,” Thexton says.

The range of CE devices that can be used creates other interesting choices. “Television viewing can include high definition, surround sound and a host of other options,” Thexton explains. “But if you’re watching content on a portable media player (PMP), you don’t need these options.” Infinite TV knows what devices the individual owns because they are registered on the system. The result is that the operator can deliver content in the appropriate format.

Premium content, targeted advertising

Infinite TV has been developed to bring premium content to connected devices. It also offers targeted advertising on multiple devices. In addition to content owners, the major groups who could benefit from this project are CE device manufacturers, advertisers and of course end-users.

• Content owners are looking for ways to use their back catalogue to boost their bottom line. The most obvious way is to offer their content on as many new devices as possible – in an open market.

• CE device manufacturers are battling to provide rich media applications to compete with some of the established vertical market players such as iTunes and Playstation Network (PSN). Their challenge is to provide value added premium services that will appeal to the owners of their devices. The end result has to be a quality user experience. Infinite TV makes this possible for STB vendors and vendors of PCs and personal media players.

• Users want access to premium content with a system that is convenient, instant and all-encompassing. “When users switch on an Infinite TV device they can instantly browse or view a library of freshly updated content,” Thexton says. Both the content and the user interface are populated with targeted advertising.

The question is whether the delivery of all this content will choke the Internet. Will consumers have to actively monitor and manage the capacity limitations of their networks and devices?

“Infinite TV adopts pre-emptive delivery from the broadcasting world. Consumers don’t necessarily need to know that content is delivered to one of their devices until they want to access it,” Thexton explains.

“The system operates based on what we call ‘intelligent decisions’,” he continues. “If the system knows that an individual subscriber is interested in a particular series, subsequent episodes are delivered at times of day that won’t overload the broadband infrastructure. This eliminates network bottlenecks and associated delivery costs.”

This is similar to subscribing to a podcast, Thexton explains. “The difference is that content is pushed out to devices at the least cost to the operator.”

There’s more. Infinite TV also makes it easy for operators to decide whether to deliver content over a broadcast path or over broadband. As a result they can reach millions of users at the lowest possible cost.

Targeted advertising: A revolution is on the way

“Infinite TV not only offers content but it also supports a very sophisticated infrastructure for targeted advertising,” Thexton explains.

Infinite TV features a rich advertising delivery and display infrastructure that enables the implementation of a variety of engaging new formats. This includes standard banner ads as well as innovative rich media formats for advertising with trick play modes such as pause and fast forward.

“We are not trying to increase the number of ads subscribers watch. What Infinite TV does is make certain they receive the ads that are most relevant to them,” Thexton says.

Infinite TV has enabled NDS to envisage entirely new paradigms in advertising. “We can implement more than normal pre-roll, post-roll and mid-roll ad breaks,” he says. “Now we can also introduce a variety of very sophisticated possibilities.”

“We also offer full measurement techniques on a variety of devices. This is a breakthrough,” Thexton says, “because operators can now get real time reports on who is viewing what.”

“In addition, users may register multiple devices on the Infinite TV service. What’s important for the operator is that for reporting purposes, the subscriber’s devices are addressed as one unit. Now operators can know what subscribers are watching – including which ads on which device.”

Another important feature of the emerging Infinite TV project is that operators don’t need separate delivery systems for each device. They can decide which ads provide the best return on their investment and deliver them to any registered device.

What does Infinite TV accomplish?

“We are creating a convenient, personalised user experience. In the broadcast world it is difficult to tailor the viewing experience to the individual,” he says.

“In the online world searchable databases and vertical search engines deliver the type of personalisation that both subscribers and operators want.”

The way Infinite TV works is that users enter the portal, register themselves and their devices, and provide some preferences and demographic data. This includes choosing programmes, search terms, even genres. When they’re on the move, the system knows who is watching, and makes intelligent, relevant decisions for them. It keeps their playlists updated and refreshed with premium targeted content and advertising.

“What’s important is that we aren’t trying to replace the advantages of broadcasting. This is a secondary system,” Thexton says, “but we’re convinced that because it’s so convenient it’s bound to become popular.”